It's Your Birthday, Katniss
by Silvery Dire Wolf
Summary: Katniss gets a nice surprise from Peeta on her twentieth birthday. Katniss/Peeta. One-shot. Contains spoilers for all three books.


I awake to the sweet feeling of Peeta's lips on mine. I must have had a nightmare because he woke me with kisses. We have a system for greeting each other in the morning that changes depending on how we sleep. Kisses mean nightmares; caresses mean peaceful nights. These small gestures of affection are our way of communicating without words. I will always be here for him and he will always be here for me. Through the good times and the bad.

"Good morning," he whispers as he pulls away.

I reach up to brush the hair away from his eyes. "Is it still morning?" I ask. We have a tendency to let the other sleep in if they've been plagued with nightmares.

He shook his head. "No. It's around noon. I woke you once before, but you were too tired to get up."

"Oh." I look into his concerned eyes and frown. He wants me to explain my nightmare, but how can I tell him it involved him killing me? I don't want Peeta to think I'm afraid of him. "You turned into a mockingjay," I say lamely. "Snow captured you and killed you." I can tell that he doesn't believe me, but he doesn't call me out on my lie.

He gets up and grabs something from the nightstand that I can't see. He quickly hides it behind his back. "Close your eyes." He must have seen the confusion on my face because he adds, "it's a surprise."

I obediently close my eyes, and he hands me what I think is a plate. It's medium-sized and smooth to the touch. Something is weighing it down but it's not heavy. I can't tell what it is.

"Happy birthday," he says. "I made it myself. I hope you like it."

I open my eyes to the biggest cupcake I have ever seen. Chocolate fudge frosting blends in with the rest of the chocolate cupcake and oozes out the sides like a volcano. My name is written on the top in green frosting and there is a pink heart directly below it. "It's beautiful," I whisper as I blow out the one candle above my name. Too beautiful to eat.

"You forgot," he says accusingly. "But I didn't. I wanted to make you something special for your twentieth birthday."

"Peeta..." I don't know what to say. I was under the impression that my birth was a curse. Everyone who knows me ends up dead or heartbroken. I even hurt Peeta after our first Games, and then I tried to kill him when he was hijacked. I often think he'd be happier with someone else, but he continues to prove me wrong with the smallest of gestures. Like remembering my birthday. This cupcake is proof that at least one person is happy I was born. "Thank you."

I carefully set the plate back down on the nightstand and throw my arms around him, which causes him to lose his balance and fall forward onto the bed. Our noses touch as I squirm under him in an attempt to free myself, but his arms wrap tightly around me and hold me in place. I stop struggling and snuggle into the embrace.

"You like it," he confirms. I can hear the happiness in his voice. I'm glad he's happy because I am, too. Peeta and I deserve a little bit of joy in our lives after everything we've been through. We both have lost so much, but we somehow managed to hang on to each other. He brought the smile back to my face when I was mourning Prim. And I comfort him everytime he thinks hijacked Peeta is taking over.

I'm content to stay curled up in his arms forever, but Peeta has other plans. He reaches for the cupcake and sets it beside me. He wants me to eat it. "Dig in."

I grab the fork he hands me and carefully pluck a piece from the side. Red filling mingles with fudge and slides delicately down the piece of cupcake. I stuff it in my mouth before it drips onto the bed. Strawberry. "It's delicious. Share it?" I want him to taste his creation, too.

Peeta looks surprised. He must not have been expecting me to share my present. I watch as the look of surprise turns to one of love. He kisses my cheek before replying, "share it."

I scoop up a piece of cupcake and shove it in his mouth. He takes his time chewing and then swallowing it.

"It could use more chocolate." He smiles at me and takes the fork from my hand, swiftly cutting a small chunk of cake. He holds it out to me.

"There's enough chocolate in it to last a lifetime," I tell him. We both laugh as he continues to hold it out to me, expecting me to take it from him. I open my mouth and devour the slice of cake, fork and all. I slide the fork out of my mouth and lick the frosting from my lips.

"You missed a spot." He leans in and licks the frosting from my face. I make a pitiful yelp as I tumble backward onto the pillow. The fork slips from my hand and falls to the floor. Peeta moves the rest of the cupcake onto the nightstand, picks up the fork and cleans it in the sink. We quickly finish off the cake.

He takes the plate from me and leaves the room, returning with two small boxes tied together with a single red ribbon. "Here."

I carefully take the boxes from him. One is about the size of a book; the other fits into the palm of my hand. As I wonder which once to open first, Peeta taps the smaller one with his index finger. "That one is an addition to a previous gift. Go on. Open it."

Confused, I unwrap the ribbon and set the larger one down beside me. I slowly pull off the lid, my eyes falling onto a silver necklace. That's when I notice the pearl. Peeta's pearl. The one he gave me in the Quarter Qwell; the one I have kept in a safe place all these years. A silver heart attaches the pearl to the necklace. "Oh, Peeta. I love it."

"I thought you might." He helps me put it on. "I was surprised you kept it. It must be special to you."

He has no idea how precious the pearl is to me. It gave me hope when he was being tortured by the Capitol. As long as I had the pearl, the Capitol could never truly take Peeta away from me. And now he has made it even more special."It's the perfect gift. Thank you."

"You look beautiful," he says suddenly, startling me. Before I can respond, Peeta quickly shoves the other gift in my face. "Open this one now."

I laugh at how childish he sounds. "I will."

I carefully take the lid off, revealing a leather-bound book. It's small but feels heavy in my hands. Inside are countless sketches and paintings of various things. Some are of nature and others are of people. I trace a water lily with my fingers. The paint is smooth against my skin. There are drawings of large forests, lakes and waterfalls all perfectly colored in with pastels. The portraits of people look lively and almost real. I see paintings of my mother and Prim. I touch Prim's smiling face, her long hair, and I can't help smiling as well. On the last page is a sketch of me, bow in hand. Underneath are the words 'I love you, Katniss'.

I can feel my heart melting in my chest. "These are great." I close the book and set it on the coffee table. My hand reaches for the pearl and I twirl it between my fingers. Haymitch was right: I don't deserve Peeta.

We decide to spend the rest of the day together. We talk for hours about our lives. I learn more about his childhood, and I tell him about mine before my father died. We share our happiness and our sadness because that's what Peeta and I do. Afterward, we take a long walk at sunset and watch as the moon rises high in the sky.

This must be what it's like to have a normal life. Did my mother feel like this before my dad died? Did she want to spend every waking hour with the one she loved? I imagine that normal people feel the way I do now. Happy. Content to live each day with that one special person. Normal people don't spend almost every hour wondering if their loved one will be taken from them. It's no longer a rational fear, I know, but losing Peeta still haunts my dreams.

"Are we normal?" I have to know. As he turns his head to face me, I can see his eyes shining in the pale moonlight. What's he thinking?

"It's different for everyone, Katniss. This is _our_ normal. We protect each other. We comfort each other after every nightmare. I understand your pain and you understand mine. This is what we know as normal."

So that's what he thinks about the subject. I always wonder if Peeta would prefer a normal life, but obtaining such a life after everything he's been through is impossible. The nightmares will never go away, nor will the flashbacks. He will always worry about becoming hijacked Peeta. Not even I can silence that fear.

I cuddle close to him, wanting to feel his warmth. He's the only good thing left in my miserable life."I'm glad I'm with you," I blurt out. Where did that come from? I bury my face in his shirt.

He lovingly runs his fingers down my back. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

Peeta the romantic would say something like that. And Katniss the not-so-romantic doesn't know what to say. My silence doesn't seem to bother him. He wraps his arms around me, holding me close to him. I decide it's best not to speak. Talk is cheap, after all.


End file.
